


Small, Little Things

by Aenaria



Series: Small, Little Things [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Nat's POV on things, Prompt Fic, Secret Relationship, Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-22
Updated: 2014-05-22
Packaged: 2018-01-26 02:03:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1670657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aenaria/pseuds/Aenaria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One of the best ways to give the impression that you know everything?  Observe, observe, observe.  </p>
<p>Natasha sits back and watches Steve and Darcy, wondering if there's more there than meets the eye.  A little ficlet from Natasha's POV that takes place in the middle of 'Things That Friends Do'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Small, Little Things

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Merideath](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merideath/gifts).



> Ask, and ye shall receive. I apologize this has taken me so long to get out, but you know how real life gets. This story takes place in the middle of ‘Things That Friends Do’, and it’s basically what leads Nat to ask Steve a certain question. When I saw your prompt I immediately knew that it would fit in very well in this existing universe. There are also some things, thoughts about observation and finding your partner in a crowd, in this ficlet that were inspired by some other conversations - you know who you are, and thank you for making me aware of that perspective on things.
> 
> All right, enough with the notes. I need to tamp down my propensity for babble…

One of the best ways to give the impression that you know everything? Observe, observe, observe. Natasha Romanoff has made a life out of this skill, having been trained from the earliest of ages to keep her eyes open. A good spy observes and watches her surroundings and her targets, and discovers the best way to manipulate people to her needs. Spies can get information, destroy technology, liberate weapons, and take a life just by using their eyes.

It's served her well so far, Nat's not ashamed to admit. Even now that she's working for the good guys it's still an invaluable skill.

This is why she also keeps an eye out on her teammates when she knows they're not watching her. It's not spying if the information she finds can be used to help out the team in the field, anyway. The things she discovers do not surprise her - Tony's anxiety issues, Bruce's desire for calm and stillness, Clint's nightmares that keep him up at night, Thor’s complex family relations, Steve's lack of a social life. Nat knows her team well enough by now that none of these things are unexpected from them.

But every now and then one of her teammates will do something that surprises her. Usually it's something small, the little things that would otherwise be overlooked and brushed aside. This time, it's Steve's turn for the surprise.

Whenever they have the 'Family Dinner Nights', as Tony's taken to calling them, Nat notices how Steve's eyes keep wandering over to Dr. Foster's lab assistant. It's subtle, very subtle, but there's a pattern there. Darcy will make a noise: a giggle, a laugh, a cackle, and Steve will flick a glance her way. And when it happens more than once, at more than a few nights? There's definitely more than just the noises getting Steve's attention.

Natasha doesn't kid herself and say that it's a purely aesthetic attraction there on Steve's part. He may be a man out of time, but a man nonetheless and she's fairly certain he's no blushing virgin. Darcy is an attractive girl, she won't deny that, but she's not exactly to Natasha's tastes. A girl who's been lucky enough to avoid the darker edges of the world that provides Natasha's stock in trade. Maybe she envies Darcy a little bit for that, but her life is hers and it will be what she makes it. Too late to go back now, so she won't live in the past and go forward instead.

What it comes down to is this: Steve is her teammate and any potential girlfriend of his, even one that's peripherally in their social circle, needs to be thoroughly vetted by her.

However, as time passes, she's not sure she has to worry. Steve and Darcy are cordial, friendly, but it doesn't seem like there's anything beyond friendship there. They talk during the dinners, and she knows that Steve saved her life during the clone invasion a few months back, but there’s nothing out of the ordinary, nothing that screams 'potential romance' or sends up Natasha's alarm bells.

Until one night when there's another small, little thing that she spots. On her way back to her apartment after Family Dinner Night, Natasha gets sight of Steve's motorcycle idling outside of Grand Central Terminal. Nothing overly alarming, but he’d clearly mentioned that he was heading home. He's waiting, she thinks, paying attention as Steve checks his watch, then glances at one of the many sets of doors lining the ground floor of the Terminal. So Natasha makes herself invisible, blends back into the shadows of a bustling New York summer night, and waits to see what exactly Steve is doing.

It doesn't take long for Darcy, of all people, to come rushing out of those heavy doors, a shopping bag swinging from her hands. She heads over to Steve, who trades her for a helmet and folds the bag into one of the saddlebags. A few seconds later Darcy's got the helmet securely on her head and Steve's bike zooms off. He'd said he was going home, but now Nat's not so sure. But she knows Darcy's background check has come back clean as a whistle, so Natasha has to trust that Steve knows what he's getting into.

That doesn't stop her from taking a spin past Steve's Brooklyn apartment later that night, just to be on the safe side. (It’s not spying, Nat tells herself. It’s being a concerned friend.) She glances up at the window, and sees Darcy standing there, bottle of beer clutched in one hand and a thoughtful look on her face as she stares out into the darkness. Steve comes up behind her, lips moving into a grin as he says something and places a hand on her shoulder. A second later Darcy tips her head back to look at him, then she spins, jabbing a finger into his stomach as he laughs and falls out of view, like Darcy’s little push actually was able to knock him over. Not what she was expecting, and while she’s still concerned, none of her internal alarms are blaring at the sight.

Steve's a big boy, and can take care of himself, Nat knows. So she's got to trust that he's not getting in over his head. But if she can find something that will grant her a little more information as to what exactly is going on between Steve and Darcy, she won't complain about that. Nothing she’d seen was technically incriminating, and she needs more proof to back up her theory that this relationship is far deeper than what it looks like on the surface.

Frustratingly, it's almost impossible for Natasha to find any information on these potential new developments between the Captain and the doctor's assistant. Neither one of them have anywhere near her training, but they've been surprisingly good at keeping things under wraps. The Grand Central pick-ups are frequent, and it's not unheard of for Steve to go and visit the labs occasionally in the course of his duties, and maybe drop by and see Darcy and Jane as well. But there's an innocence there that says 'just friends' to Natasha.

She may also not be trying as hard as she can to find this incriminating information because Steve is a friend of hers and she knows he wouldn’t appreciate it if he caught her intruding on his privacy. He’d understand that she’s looking out for him, but it’s all too easy to imagine the disappointed look on his face if he finds out about her investigation. Trust is rare in this world of theirs, and Nat doesn’t want to jeopardize his trust in her.

But there's something that isn't quite as friendly as the rest...no, it's more than friendly, really. It’s the one thing that speaks of something other than friendship. Natasha knows how Steve's able to find Darcy almost anywhere in the room during the get-togethers, eyes flicking over her way with laser accuracy far more often than in just a friendly fashion. What she's only just realizing is that Darcy is the exact same way, keeping an eye on him even when he's not looking at her, when he's enjoying himself laughing at one of Clint's dumb jokes or more outlandish stories. And those glances speak of something far, far more intimate than mere friendship.

What else can Natasha do at that point but ask Steve what's going on, if only to satisfy her curiosity? Steve is a friend of hers, after all, and friends do talk to each other.

"So what's going on with you and Foster's assistant?"

 


End file.
